Drug
derived from the fruit of the blushwood tree kills cancerous tumours long-term
in animals in 70% of cases
 |
| Berries on the blushwood tree, a plant only found in specific areas of the Atherton Tablelands in tropical north Queensland. Photograph: QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute |
Scientists
have managed to destroy cancerous tumours by using an experimental drug derived
from the seeds of a fruit found in north Queensland rainforests.
The drug,
called EBC-46, was produced by extracting a compound from the berry of the
blushwood tree, a plant only found in specific areas of the Atherton
Tablelands.
A single injection
of the drug directly into melanoma models in the laboratory, as well as into
cancers of the head, neck and colon in animals, destroyed the tumours long-term
in more than 70% of cases, the study’s lead author, Dr Glen Boyle, said.
“In
preclinical trials we injected it into our models and within five minutes, you
see a purpling of the area that looks like a bruise,” Boyle, from the QIMR
Berghofer Medical Research Institute said.
“About 24
hours later, the tumour area goes black, a couple of days later you see a scab,
and at around the 1.5 week mark, the scab falls off, leaving clean skin with no
tumour there. The speed certainly surprised me.”
Researchers
believe the drug triggers a cellular response which cuts off the blood supply
to the tumour by opening it up.
“That’s why
we see a bruise-like situation forming in the tumour,” Boyle said. “This seems
to lead to an activation of the body’s own immune system which then comes in
and cleans up the mess.”
It has been
used by veterinarians in about 300 cases of cancer in companion animals
including dogs, cats and horses.
There was
no evidence EBC-46 would be effective to treat cancers that had spread to other
parts of the body, known as metastatic cancers, Boyle said.
The drug is
being developed as a human and veterinary pharmaceutical through QBiotics, a
subsidiary of the company which discovered the drug, called EcoBiotics. The
company is also examining the potential for a blushwood plantation.
Ethical
approval was recently granted for phase 1 human clinical trials, but even if
those proved successful, it was unlikely the drug would replace conventional
chemotherapy treatment, Boyle said.
“Chemotherapy
is still used because it is very effective for a lot of people,” he said. “But
EBC-46 could perhaps be used in people who, for some reason, chemotherapy
doesn’t work [for], or for elderly patients whose body can’t sustain another
round of chemotherapy treatment.”
The
preclinical trial was funded by QIMR Berghofer and the National Health and
Medical Research Council and the results were published in the journal PLOS
One.
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